Cold Email Mastery
How to generate a high-grade 7-step outbound sequence with Kolvera's T.I.P.S. engine.
The full framework, every step structure, tone rules, and worked examples. Add this to your Claude Project knowledge so Claude writes sequences in your voice.
The T.I.P.S. Framework
Every high-converting cold email follows six beats. Kolvera generates them automatically from your ICP, business context, and the prospect's real data.
A real reason you're reaching out — a new hire, expansion, job ad. Kolvera pulls this from {{trigger}} (the company's buying signals).
What the trigger likely means for them. Shows it's not spray-and-pray.
A common pain your ICP faces, tied to the implication. Dig into the cost of inaction using Before–After–Bridge proof-math.
A named customer + the metric they achieved. Reverses the pain math: if the pain is “<10 meetings/month,” the proof is “40 → 90 meetings/month.”
One line on how you got that result. No feature dump — that's what the call is for.
“Worth a chat?” “Open to hearing more?” Never ask for 30 minutes.
The 7-Step Sequence
Two threads. Two pains. Seven emails across 21 days. Kolvera generates this automatically when you choose Generate with AI on the Create screen.
| Day | Thread | Structure | Pain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day 0 | Thread 1 (new subject) | Full T.I.P.S. pitch | Pain 1 |
| 2 | Day 3 | Reply in thread | Value bump — share a relevant article or resource | Pain 1 |
| 3 | Day 5 | Reply in thread | Thoughtful bump — context + “any thoughts?” | Pain 1 |
| Thread break — new subject line, fresh inbox impression | ||||
| 4 | Day 12 | Thread 2 (new subject) | Full T.I.P.S. pitch (different wording) | Pain 2 |
| 5 | Day 15 | Reply in thread | Case-study bump — a named result that ties to pain 2 | Pain 2 |
| 6 | Day 18 | Reply in thread | Focus bump — observation + “is that the case?” | Pain 2 |
| 7 | Day 21 | Reply in thread | Referral bump — “should I talk to someone else?” | Pain 2 |
Merge Tags
Kolvera resolves these per contact at send time. The preview panel shows you the exact email each person receives.
| Tag | Resolves to | Source (waterfall) |
|---|---|---|
{{first_name}} | Sarah | Contact record |
{{last_name}} | Mitchell | Contact record |
{{company}} | Acme Corp | Job record → Company → contact free-text |
{{title}} | Head of Sales | Contact record |
{{location}} | Sydney | Contact → job ad → company HQ |
{{domain}} | acme.com.au | Job enrichment → company domain |
{{trigger}} | just opened 2 AE roles in Sydney | Company buying signals (Deep Research, pipeline intel) |
{{job_title}} | Account Executive | Scraped job ad role → contact title |
{{ad_role}} | Senior AE | Target role from scrape/import |
Conditional opener: The {{#if trigger}}...{{/if}} block wraps the trigger line so it only appears when the prospect's company has a real signal. No signal = the email starts with the next line. No placeholder text, ever.
Two Pains, Two Threads
Kolvera auto-picks two distinct pains from your ICP's pain points (or you can set them manually via the API). Each pain drives a thread:
- Thread 1 (emails 1–3): Pain 1 + its implication + proof
- Thread 2 (emails 4–7): Pain 2 + its implication + proof
Before–After–Bridge Proof Math
The pain and social-proof lines use inverse metrics to create urgency:
Before (Pain): “Teams booking <10 meetings/month are often A$300K short of pipeline coverage”
After (Proof): “Group 8a scaled from 40 to 90 meetings/month and exceeded pipeline by A$500K”
Bridge (Solution): “We did this through messaging calibration + async feedback loops”
Step-by-Step Structures
Email 1 — Full T.I.P.S. Pitch (Pain 1)
Subject: [2 words, no punctuation, no adjectives — e.g. “Ramp Time”]
Hey {{first_name}}
[Trigger — why you're reaching out]
[Implication — what it likely means for them]
[Pain — the cost of inaction, quantified]
[Social proof — named customer + metric]
[Solution — one line on how]
[Soft CTA — “Worth a chat?”]
Email 2 — Value Bump (Day 3)
Hey {{first_name}}, do you read [resource name]?
Assuming you're [implication callback], thought you'd find this useful.
[Link to a relevant article]
[Key insight from the article]
Hope it helps!
P.S. Any thoughts on my last note?
Email 3 — Thoughtful Bump (Day 5)
Hey {{first_name}}
Given that you're [trigger callback], thought this would be worth discussing.
Any thoughts on my last emails?
Email 4 — Full T.I.P.S. Pitch (Pain 2, new thread)
Subject: [2 words, different topic — e.g. “Pipeline Gap”]
Same structure as Email 1 but for Pain 2, worded differently.
Email 5 — Case-Study Bump (Day 15)
Hey {{first_name}}
Given [pain 2 callback] was a priority, thought this would be worth discussing.
Here's a quick breakdown on how we helped [customer] [desired outcome].
Worth a chat?
Email 6 — Focus Bump (Day 18)
Hey {{first_name}}
Saw you've [observation].
Usually that means there's a focus on [relevant outcome].
Is that the case for you?
Email 7 — Referral Bump (Day 21)
Hey {{first_name}}
Assuming this doesn't fall under your scope, would it make more sense to talk to someone else?
Saw [relevant observation].
Non-Negotiable Rules
- 7 emails total, no more, no less
- T.I.P.S. framework on emails 1 and 4
- Each email < 125 words
- 3rd–5th grade reading level
- Subject lines on emails 1 and 4 only (2 words, no punctuation, no adjectives)
- Short lines, lots of white space
- No emojis, no bold/italic in the email body
- Unsure tone: “guessing,” “typically,” “curious if”
- Soft CTAs only — never ask for time or a meeting
- Speak like a helpful peer, not a marketer
- Reply-only CTAs (no links, no calendars)
- Trigger must reference something real — no generic openers
How Kolvera Does It for You
- Create a campaign — pick your ICP, your business context, and click Generate with AI. Kolvera picks T.I.P.S. as the default framework.
- Pains auto-picked from your ICP's pain points. The engine picks two distinct pains and matches proof from your Proof Library (or uses soft unnamed fallbacks).
- 7 steps generated via Claude Sonnet — two full T.I.P.S. pitches (1 and 4) plus five contextual bumps, all under 125 words, AU English, soft CTAs.
- Triggers resolved per contact at send time from Company buying signals. The
{{#if trigger}}conditional means every prospect gets a real opener or none — never a placeholder. - Review inline — scroll per-contact previews, edit any line in place, refine with AI, toggle between template and resolved view.
- A/B test — generate variants (A/B or A/B/C) from the Create screen. Each variant gets its own pitch angles; bumps are shared.
- Launch — pick inboxes, set the schedule and daily limit, enrol contacts, hit Launch. Kolvera staggers sends across your working hours.
Tips for Better Sequences
- Run Deep Research first. It populates Company buying triggers, which feed the
{{trigger}}tag. Without triggers, the conditional opener is skipped and your email is weaker. - Set your ICP's pain points clearly. The engine picks pains from your ICP — vague pains produce vague copy.
- Add Proof Points. The Proof Library lets you store named customer results with pain tags. When the engine can match a proof to a pain, the social-proof line uses a real name + metric instead of a soft fallback.
- Use Refine All. After generation, type “make 30% more concise” or “add urgency to the pain lines” in the Refine All bar and the AI rewrites every step.
- Preview per contact. Use the ← → arrows to check the sequence for each enrolled contact. Empty variables are flagged.